Regency Romance Reviews and much much more

Tag Archives: literature

Recently, I had to manually download a book from Amazon and found that I have 293 books on my Kindle; since last November! The downside to all this book bliss is that I can’t cull a library of e-books so I am stuck with them and all the others I will purchase in the near future. Since I live approximately 75 miles from Nashville, Chattanooga, and Huntsville I’m a gas tank away from any decent book store (i.e. McKay), so my collection of e-books will only increase. This however doesn’t stop me from buying the odd book from Wally World, and so grows my “hard copy” collection.

I have never been too attached to the books I read and keep a bankers box ready for my throw backs. Actually, before my Kindle I kept very few of the books that I purchased because I have a used book store that I am in love with (this is no exaggeration) called McKay. This has always been a bit of an adventure for me; once my bankers box is full I fill up my gas tank and head for Chattanooga (just because I used to live there). I spend the day filling my cart up with books while waiting on my golden ticket or yellow ticket as the case may be. With my box once again full I head of into the sunset, make a pit stop at Ankar’s Hoagies or Glen Gene Deli and head home over Mt. Eagle chomping at the bit to start reading. Sentimental much?

This is a ritual that I love; however, there are a few books that will never see the inside of that bankers box. I have the original Cynster series by Stephanie Laurnes,the Web series by Mary Balogh and the series that started this regency obsession with me The Bridgertons by Julia Quinn. These are all packed away in my trunk in order and come out every now and again when I’m feeling nostalgic. On the whole, most of my regencies will be taken to McKay and the cycle will start all over again!

However, there are a few more books that are even more special to me and have nothing to do with Regency Romance. First, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith I remember watching the 1945 film version on TCM when I was a young and found the book as an adult. I do not know why this book is not on the list for American Lit in high school; however, I’m glad it wasn’t because I would not have enjoyed it half as much. That brings me to Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns that I did have to read for my American Lit class in high school. I still have that copy and it was well worn and loved when I got it from my Aunt. That book means the world to me because it is the one tangible item of hers I have and now that she has passed I couldn’t even think of letting that book go. Finally, 1984 by George Orwell; I purchased this book my freshman year of college when I was gung ho about reading all the classics. I never finished all of those classics but I still read 1984 once a year because I love it. Out of all the books I have, these three books will go with me where ever I go.

In the end, I could cull my book collection down to three books that I can not live with out. What books make the I can’t live with out this book list for you, how do you decide which books to cull from your collection and are you like me and have a plethora of e-books that you are stuck with now?

It’s four days until pay day and for all intents and purposes, I am as broke as California; does this stop me from reading, of course not. I just pull out my kindle and peruse the free books they have on offering and eventually I will find one worth reading. The “ramen noodle book” of choice this time is The Inconvenient Duchessby Christine Merrill.

Found free at Amazon and B&N

This novel is about the repercussions of machinations the dying Duchess of Haughleigh has crafted over the years. She has done many wrong in her life including her sons; however, it is an old school friend that has forced her to face her soul in her remaining days. Marcus, the Duke of Haughleigh has promised to meet a girl whose governesses the Duchess had done some vague wrong to. The Duchess dies and the promise is all but forgotten until one rainy night Miranda shows up at his door dragging her suit case behind her.

Miranda has been sent to the Duke’s residence without a maid and the admonishment to keep her secrets close to her heart. She is to marry either the Duke, his brother or some other town worthy to keep her safe from a life unbefitting a lady. By showing up unescorted she has forced the Duke’s hand into marriage saving what little of her reputation was left.

This story has the usually miscommunications; in this case fueled by the Duke’s younger brother St. John. After the marriage Marcus leaves to investigate his new wife and the wrong done to her governess by his mother. While gone St. John begins to plant seeds of doubt and seduction into Miranda. Marcus comes home, St. John leaves and all is well with the world. The new couple begin to see their marriage as the start of their lives instead of the end of it. Of course, their new love is challenged when they meet St. John one last time.

This book was original published in 2006 and is Ms Merrill’s first novel. To say this novel is wonderful would be a lie but for a free book it was pretty good. Throughout this book, Miranda is referred to as “Lady Miranda” when her father was only a Sir; also St. John is never given the courtesy title of Lord. This is a personal pet peeve of mine, Ms.Merrill and her editor aught to know the correct title usage when writting a Regency romance considering this book is a Harlequin Historical romance. However, I can look past that and give it a 4 out of 5 simply for the fact that it is free and a decent read. Hope you enjoy!!

Have you ever picked up a book and thought to yourself, “This sounds ridiculous, but it’s the best book here so I will give it a try anyway “. This has happened to me several times over the years. I will take the book home set it down, flip it over and read the back cover. Then I will ignore it, come back to it and read a page only to set it down again. Finally, after a day of hemming and hawing, I sit down and begin to read. Suddenly, I’m gobsmacked…how could I have wasted the day away without reading any of this book! Then I realize its 3 a.m. and I have read about 75% of the book in one sitting. Well, that is the exact experience I had with When You Give A Duke A Diamond by Shana Galen.

I purchased this book,thinking at the very least it will be something for me to read (because I’m never without something to read!). I’m not one to critisize the use of a cliché; however, I got burned with the courtesan and lord plot in All Afternoon with a Scandalous Marquess by Alexandra Hawkins. Thus, all my hemming and hawing over this book; yes, I’m guilty of prejudging the cliché as gimmick. But sometimes the cliché works.

When You Give a Duke a Diamond is the first book in the Jewels of the Ton series by Shana Galen. Ms. Galen introduses The Three Diamonds: Lily the Countess of Charm, Fallon the Marchioness of Mystery and finally, Juliette the Duchess of Dalliance. All three are supposedly under the protection of the Earl of Sinclair or rather the Earl of Sin. The Three Diamonds have taken the Ton by storm and gossip abounds; especially about Juliette and the Duke of Pelham a.k.a the Dangerous Duke.

Juliette has tired of the glittery life and is ready to find her second or make that third chance at a new life. She survived and divorced an abusive husband with the help of the Earl of Sin and no longer wants to live of his chairty; all she truly wants is her own family to love.

The Duke of Pelham is a regemented, autocratic self contained DUKE. He is not his own person he is a Duke ; that is who he has been trained from birth to be. The lessons have literally been beaten into him by his father. He is in London for Parliament and to finalize his betrothal to Lady Elizabeth. Unbeknownst to him Lady Elizabeth has a gambling problem and this will soon turn his world up side down.

Lady Elizabeth’s collision with the underbelly of London brings the Duchess of Dalliance and the Duke of Pelham together on a hunt for, what else: diamonds. With her life being threatened Juliette seeks out the Duke of Pelham and begins to unravel his ordered, staid life.

For me at least, this is a 4 out of 5 star book. Ms. Galen does a wonderful job at creating both tension and humor while maintaining the development of her characters. But don’t take my word for it, go out and read it yourself.

My first post was a review on the latest Alexandra Hawkins novel in her Lords of Vice series and it got me thinking about serials in general. Romance novels draw us like flies with that one line on the back cover: The first book in an exciting new series by…! I purchase the book and devour it, become excited by the preview for the next book and ultimately depressed when i realize that I must wait a year for the next installment. Of course, the flip side to this is having books to look foward to throughout the series. All off this leads up to my personal pet peeves.

1. The long wait : I don’t claim to understand anything about the world of publishing or the demands on a writer. That being said, why must we the readers wait up to a year for the next book?

2. Forget me, forget me not : So the wait is over, the new book is out and I remember nothing about the previous book. This is a chronic problem I have; worse yet I trade my books in so I no longer have the first book to reread. I must admit this is slowly becoming less of a problem now that I have a kindle. However, the fact remains that I have to reread the previous book(s) in order to know what’s going on.

3. Disappointment abounds : This happens often; the first book was great but the rest seem to be rushed and make little impression on me. Of course, I continue to read the series sometimes unwittingly; because, well I must reach the ending of the series.

4. Missing books, what? : There have been several instances where I really get into a series and it just stops, for no reason that I can tell. For example, the Flambeau Sisters series by Patricia Grasso where she introduced seven sisters; one would expect seven books but no, only three get a story. In fact two of the books are part of the Kasanov series as well. This irritates me, why introduce so many characters when the majority aren’t getting a story of their own.

5. Repeat repeat : I know most plot lines are not that orginal, that doesn’t really bother me too much. However, when a book is basically repeated in the same series I kinda spaz out. Stephanie Laurens does this often in her series, most recently with the Cynster Sisters Trilogy. The first two books are almost identical… the names of the characters and the rout they took changed. However, both books spend the entire time discussing how to get from point A to point B through point C and D. I digress…a future blog perhaps?

And finally 6. The finale aka THE END : After spending sometimes years reading all the books of a series every character has had their 15 minutes of fame. No matter how bad some of the books may be I’m always a little broken hearted. I was desolate when I finished The Hathaways Series by Lisa Kleypass one of my all time favorite series.

So, I think that covers all my pet peeves. The conclusion, for me at least there is no such thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to a series. No matter what may annoy me about them I will always be a sucker for The first in an exciting new series by …!

What are your pet peeves about serials, do you like them or hate them or are you absolutely addicted to them?

All Afternoon with a Scandalous Marquess is the latest installment in the Lords of Vice series by Alexandra Hawkins and I was rather disappointed in the book. Although I need to reread the other four books in the series I can safely say that Ms. Hawkins has had a better showing in her other books.

This book for me at least started out as a strong 4 out of 5. The plot was a bit different than the usual, after all how often does a Marquess marry a brothel owner. The first three chapters of this novel span several years as Charlotte or “Madam Vena” as she is know at her brothel and Saint the Marquess of Sainthill meet and have a tryst. The story picks up several years later as Madam Vena and Saint are thrown together at odd times and for various reasons that I won’t get into here. However, the fun part of the story begins when Saint and the mild mannered Charlotte are also thrown together. Saint wants to save Charlotte from a life as a prostitute at the Golden Pearl not knowing that she is actually Madam Vena herself. If this had been the whole story it may have stayed a 4 out of 5.

Unfortunately, both Charlotte and Madam Vena have problems; her two worlds are colliding and she is finding it hard to keep them apart. First, Madam Vena is being blackmailed by the man that raised her, Mr. Royal. Secondly, Charlotte is being harassed by her natural father or rather his representatives. She rightfully dose not want anything do with either men. Thirdly, Saint is always there aggravating her in both of her worlds.

This is where the story becomes a 2 out of 5. Ms Hawkins could have created so much drama out of all these problems not to mention the fact that somehow she has to make it acceptable for these two to marry. Instead Saint packs Charlotte off to stay with some of his friends and voila! He comes back a week later with her natural father and all is well and they marry the end. Did I mention that this all happens in the last two chapters. In one chapter Charlotte is contemplating disappearing into the mist and the next she is married to Saint. No conflict, no troubles, just THE END. I felt like many other people that have read this book, several chapters seem to be missing if it is due editing they choose to edit out the most important part of the book.In this case, Ms. Hawkins editor should be hogtied, hung, shot and left out to dry.

At the end of the day I enjoyed the read but was disappointed in the ending. If you can get it at the library or a second hand book store for cheap then try it out just know that it will not be a keeper.